Sunday, November 29, 2009

Back to Square One

I'm afraid we are back to Square One on two significant and ongoing events in our lives. First, the sale of our home. Would you believe that, amidst the chaos of Thanksgiving and our middle-of-the-night date, we had a house showing? Yes, Mark and I returned from Black Friday around 7:30 am, cleaned like crazy people, and had a house showing at 10:00. Another no-sale. Back to the drawing board on that front.

Then there was church today. Accompanied by our precious friends from our old church, we visited a new one that was quite a distance from us. Considering our church history, distance is not really a factor; however, even in the days when we commuted 35 miles to church every Wednesday and Sunday, it was a straight shot down the interstate. The route to this church took us down many two-lane roads laden with traffic lights. I can only imagine the time it would take to get there on a Wednesday night at rush hour.

Despite the fact that, by the time we made it there, we had already made up our mind about the church, I elicited some feedback from the children:

Me: Did you boys have fun today in your class?

Them: Yes.

Me: What was fun about it?

Them: We got Rice Krispy treats.

Me: But what else was fun?

Them: Jack wanted a second Rice Krispy treat.

Me: But what besides the Rice Krispy treat was fun?

Them: I don’t know; we didn’t do that much.

Me: Was there a story?

Them: Ummm…Yeah, I think so.

Me: What was the story?

Them: I don’t remember.

Then Alex chimes in: I liked it better than the [church we went to last week].

Me: Why?

Alex: Well, Grace and I got to share a bag of potato chips.

Me: But what else did you like about it?

Alex: Oh, and we had some candy corn.

(Are you sensing a theme here?)

Me: (rolls her eyes)

Alex: (quickly) OH! And I liked the message better.

Me: What was it about?

Alex: About being thankful.

A Retention Lesson to all of you church pastors/planters/directors/associates/ministers out there:

oh man, that feeling (square one) can be discouraging, but keep your head up... there IS a perfect plan. Sometimes it's just not the "perfect" we think of. And I have to laugh about the food/church comment... that was a big deal when we were visiting churches too. The biggest score? Sour straws.